Abstract

Being small in size and weight, piezoelectric transducers hold unique positions in vibration sensing and control. Here, we explore the possibility of building a compact vibration isolation system using piezoelectric sensors and actuators. The mechanical resonances of a piezoelectric actuator around a few kHz are suppressed by an order of magnitude via electrical damping, which improves the high-frequency response. Working with a strain gauge located on the piezoelectric actuator, an auxiliary control loop eliminates the drift associated with a large servo gain at dc. Following this approach, we design, optimize, and experimentally verify the loop responses using frequency domain analysis. The vibration isolation between 1 Hz and 200 Hz is achieved and the attenuation peaks at 60 near vibration frequency of 20 Hz. Restrictions and potentials for extending the isolation to lower vibration frequencies are discussed.

Received 03 December 2012Accepted 29 April 2013Published online 24 May 2013

Acknowledgments:

This work is supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2012CB821303), the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Grant No. 11235004), and the Instrument Developing Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant Nos. Y20638 and YG2010068).